Ofer dal Lal

Artistic Director

Ofer dal Lal is a conductor living in the San Francisco Bay Area and working internationally, currently in his sixth year with Mission Peak Chamber Singers. He is the artistic director of WomenSing choir and serves on the board of Livermore Valley Opera. Mr. dal Lal has served on the faculty of California State University East Bay, teaching choral conducting for graduate and undergraduate students.

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Mr. dal Lal first came into prominence as the musical director and conductor of the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir – an organization of five choirs consisting of 150 singers and one of Israel’s leading non-professional choirs. He relocated to California after completing a master’s degree magna cum laude in conducting at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel-Aviv.

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Among the ensembles he has conducted are the world-renowned Stuttgart Chamber Choir and Classical Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany), Berlin Radio Choir (Germany), Oregon Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra (Oregon, USA), Salt Lake Vocal Artists (Utah, USA), Israel Philharmonic Choir (Israel), Voces Nordicae (Sweden), Studium Canticum (Cagliari, Italy) and Manado State University Choir (Indonesia).

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In August 2013 he was selected as one of 12 conductors from all over the world to take part in a special project entitled “Conducting 21C: Musical Leadership for a New Century”, part of the Music and Humanity Symposium in Stockholm. In 2012 Ofer dal Lal was invited to conduct the Jerusalem Academy Chamber Choir in their performance of the Israeli premiere of “Loquimini Veritatem” by composer Sarah Shoham, at the opening concert of the Mediterranean Zimriya (World Assembly of Choirs in Israel).

Janet Holmes

Accompanist

Janet Holmes received her B.A. from USC and an M.M. from Mills College in Oakland. She is an Adjunct Professor in voice and piano at Ohlone College in Fremont. Ms. Holmes maintains her own vocal studio in San Ramon and is the Music Director/Sanctuary Choir Director since 2010, and Organist for First Presbyterian Church in Livermore since 1989. She appeared as the organ soloist with the Livermore-Amador Symphony’s 2006 performance of Leo Sowerby’s Concertpiece for Organ and Orchestra. Other earlier affiliations include the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, the Berkeley Piano Club, the Women Musicians Club of San Francisco, SFBAC NATS, and as an adjudicator for regional vocal competitions. She has served as accompanist for several of Ohlone's Summerfest productions, as well as Vocal Director for several of their recent shows, and collaborated with Stage 1 in Newark.

Sid Quinsaat

Associate Director

Sid Quinsaat is a dedicated and passionate choral conductor currently serving as the Director of Choirs at Piedmont High School. Sid’s love for singing and music has given them opportunities to make music with a wide variety of people throughout the SF Bay.

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Sid truly believes in the power of music to heal and make peace. It encourages people to be vulnerable and to be their true selves, while simultaneously listening to others, ensuring that their voices work together to create more beauty in the world. This belief propelled Sid into work that they believed would help make a positive impact.

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Their first job 5 years in the area was for the Sierra Club to helping to raise money to stop deforestation in Northern California. After that first summer in Oakland, Sid began working for the Oakland Youth Chorus where they would remain for the next three years, teaching music and working with students from Kindergarten through Middle School all throughout Oakland. Afterwards Sid began directing choirs and musicals at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, which led them to opportunities at St. Ignatius in SF, and ultimately Piedmont High School. Sid continues to sing in the San Francisco Choral Artists and studies voice with James Toland, and is so grateful to be doing the thing they love the most for work. 

Corie Brown

Assistant Director

Dr. Corie Brown serves as Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at San José State University. She leads the SJSU Concert and Treble Choirs, and brings diverse teaching experience in both public and community settings. Prior to graduate studies in Colorado and Oregon, then moving to California, Dr. Brown taught in Colombia with the Fundación Nacional Batuta from 2012–2014, where she aided in the creation of the organization’s choral department and mentored choir teachers throughout the country. She also taught in public schools in Chicago and Michigan.

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Dr. Brown was a semi-finalist in the Southwest American Choral Directors Association Conducting Competition. She is active nationally and internationally as a clinician and guest conductor. She most recently served as faculty at the Kula Kākoʻo Virtual Choral Conducting Institute in Hawai’i, adjudicated the Festival Coral de Santander in Colombia, presented at the California State Music Educators Conference, and conducted the Ad Astra Music Festival High School Honor Choir in Kansas. 
 
Dr. Brown holds degrees in Choral Music Education from Alma College, in Choral Conducting from the University of Oregon, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, California Music Educators Association, and National Association for Music Education, and serves on the boards of the California Choral Directors Association and California Music Educators Association Bay Area.